


Cuddling by the Fire

by PrincessMuk



Series: HSMTMTS One Shots! [1]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, Benjamin Mazzara cries during movies, Canon Compliant, Episode: s01e07 Thanksgiving, F/M, Fire, Friendship/Love, Missing Scene, Troy Boltron levitating on a basketball, they watch Big Hero 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22138663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessMuk/pseuds/PrincessMuk
Summary: Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara enjoy a nice Thanksgiving evening together.
Relationships: Bejamin Mazzara & Miss Jenn, Benjamin Mazzara/Miss Jenn
Series: HSMTMTS One Shots! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593637
Comments: 18
Kudos: 28





	Cuddling by the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Don't @ me about the title lol

When Jennifer walked back into the room, she saw Benjamin Mazzara pulling on a string.

The string, in turn, was connected to her basketball structure that her Troy Bolton (Re-clothed Ken, she couldn’t afford official merch like that) doll sat on. 

It was the best thing she had ever seen.

“Wait, what did you do here?” she asked as she walked closer to get a better look, and he turned to look at her.

Or, her real question: why had he done this for her? She was sure he hated her. She was sure they hated each other…

“It’s a basic pulley system,” he explained. “A force multiplier.”

She could only stare in awe at what he’d done. “It’s beautiful.”

“Math often is,” Benjamin replied with a small smile.

Now, Jennifer was looking at him. Oh lord, she might cry.

“Benjamin.” She looked back at the doll, then at him again.

He turned again to face her, raising his brows, which she mirrored. What was she even supposed to say right now? She was… touched. And happy.

This was not at all how she’d expected tonight to go.

“Please don’t--”

“I’m gonna cry,” she announced, fanning her face as if that could stop the tears welling up in her eyes.

Benjamin pointed at her, “I cannot stress to you enough how uncomfortable that would make me feel.”

“You did something nice for me,” she smiled, holding her hands near her chest. She hadn’t even known this side of him existed! Who would have thought that the person she thought hated her most in this building would be the first person (her age, at least) to do something kind for her?

Suddenly, it struck her.

“You know what we should do?” 

Benjamin’s face looked a bit concerned, but he was still looking at her. “Break off eye contact sometime soon?” (If he wanted that, he could easily do it himself.)

“When I was young,” (ah,  _ now _ he was walking away… guess he did want to. Well, she could just follow him!) “my family used to do a movie night on Thanksgiving. You wanna?”

He barely turned to answer, “I don’t think so.”

She gasped, not paying attention to his answer, “I downloaded  _ Big Hero 6 _ for the long weekend-- it’s about a robot,” something she knew he liked, “but there’s also some imagination in it, so… something for everyone?”

_ C’mon, Benjamin… say yes! What else are you even doing tonight? _

For a moment, he only stood there, his back turned to her as she waited expectantly for his answer. Then, he caved, letting out a sigh as he turned to look at her. “Fine. Let’s go watch your movie.”

“Yay!” she smiled, shaking her hands in fists excitedly. “I’ll go get my laptop, and we can eat the food we brought!”

“W-- I did not bring food.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes, “we both know that’s not true.” She patted his shoulder, and he flinched, but surprisingly said nothing.

“Wait, where are we doing this?” he asked, turning to face her as she walked towards the doorway.

She giggled softly, “faculty room.”

Benjamin looked at her for a second, then nodded, “okay.”

She grabbed her bag and brought it into the teacher’s lounge with her, sitting near the middle of the couch. She fished her laptop out of her bag -- a little embarrassing for a woman her age, she supposed, with its pink giraffe print case -- but she figured Benjamin had already judged her about a billion other things, so what was one more? She set the laptop on the coffee table and navigated to the movie, then she took the Tupperware out of her bag and opened it, seeing what was left of her Thanksgiving meal for one.

She had two salads from Panera, some strawberries, grapes, and some sort of pastry she hadn’t checked the name of. She set everything on the coffee table besides the pastry, which she brought up to rest on her lap.

By the time Benjamin joined her, she was all set up, and he handed her a fork (which she’d forgotten to bring, so she was grateful). He sat down on the left end of the couch, about as far away from her as he could get.

She frowned a bit, then giggled again. “I don’t bite, you know.”

“... I know.” He responded dryly, though he did scoot a bit closer.

Well… it was progress.

“Are you ready to see one of the best Disney films of the decade?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes and huffed, but he then looked at her, realizing she wanted an answer. “...Yes.”

“Great!” she smiled, leaning forward to click the play button and put the movie into fullscreen.

“Hard to see,” he said under his breath, but she heard it.

“Well, this is as close as I can get it,” Jennifer leaned back. “Unless you want to get closer and balance it on our legs?”

He looked at the screen, then at her, then back at the screen. He sighed again before scooting closer to her -- their legs were touching now.

Huh. She didn’t think he’d actually do that.

She leaned forward once again to grab the laptop, then lifted her legs to rest on the coffee table, and finally set the laptop on their legs.

“Better?” she asked, with a bit of attitude but not quite the amount she’d intended.

Benjamin’s face was blank as ever when he responded, “better.”

Well, wasn’t this quite the night… here they were, sitting side by side watching a movie together on Thanksgiving night.

It was funny. When she’d first realized Benjamin was here with her, she’d been dreading her night. They hated each other. He hated her especially. But, now…

There was something like respect there, instead.

As the movie went on, and they ate from their respective Tupperware, then from each other’s, Jennifer couldn’t help but think that this was… nice. Nice enough, even, that she’d want to do it again sometime.

By the time Tadashi died, they were a lot more comfortable, pressed up together like two teenagers in love. That particular comparison made Jennifer realize just how intimate this was, but… well, it wasn’t like that. Just an hour ago, she’d felt nothing but contempt for this man. She definitely wasn’t in love.

She did, however, have a better opinion of him, now. And she didn’t mind being so close.

When Jennifer saw a blur of movement to her left, she turned, seeing that Benjamin was wiping his eyes.

“W-- Benjamin, are you  _ crying? _ ”

He shook his head, letting his hand fall. “No… there’s dust in my eye.”

“Oh my goodness, you really are,” she pouted. “Aw, I didn’t know you were such a sap.”

“I’m  _ not _ ,” he insisted. “Just… that young man didn’t deserve that kind of fate. He was very talented.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, he wasn’t real,” she told him, though it didn’t seem to do much.

It was barely halfway through the movie that the Thanksgiving food coma began to kick in, both of them yawning as they watched the characters talk about their plan. Jennifer let her arms lay on her chest, the small part of her that was awake enough to think making sure she was holding on to her Tupperware.

“It’s… a good movie… “ she whispered, her words a bit slurred due to her tiredness.

“Mmhm.” She couldn’t tell if Benjamin was tired, too, or just not talkative. Maybe both. Her eyes were closing so she couldn’t look to see.

Her head began to fall towards Benjamin, but she did her best not to straight-up lean onto him. That would be really awkward once they woke up…

* * *

“Jennifer. Jennifer!”

Jennifer slowly opened her eyes, wondering why Benjamin was yelling at her… and why it was so hard to breathe. For the first thing, it might be due to the fact that she was leaning on his side (the exact thing she’d been trying to avoid as she fell asleep) but this seemed more urgent. It probably had to do with the breathing thing, then… but what…

She gasped. Smoke.

“W-what’s happening?” she asked, shooting up straight.

Benjamin coughed, standing up from the couch. “Fire.”

“I--” she coughed, unable to finish.

He grabbed her arm, leading her to the nearest fire alarm. They were both coughing like they had the plague as he pulled it, and the sprinklers turned on above them.

“Benjamin?”

He looked at her, no hesitation, and let go of her arm.

“ _ Run. _ ”

And so, she ran.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're dying for more HSMTMTS fanfiction like I am, why not join the Discord? We're always sharing fics and art with each other, and discussing the show, characters, and ships! It's NSFW free and fun for all ^^ Invite code is N8yxK7e (never expires!)


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